Samain Bare Aspen Moon
Wednesday, adult Hebrew at 4:30 with Rabbi Jamie. Then, kabbalah at 7 p.m. Thursday. Mussar at 1 pm. Then mussar leadership group at 6:30 p.m. Result? Both nights up past my bedtime and an 8 a.m. rising this morning. Oooffdah, as we would have said back in the land of the frozen mustache.
I’m in a graduate program in Jewish studies by immersion. The learning is constant and interesting. Beth Evergreen has made me a better person, calmer and even more introspective.
Judaism is humane and that aspect of it appeals to me. A lot. Example. Rich Levine, the lawyer who did our estate documents, attended the MVP meeting last night. He had, he said, with his brother just unveiled his father’s gravestone. Is this a common custom, I asked? Yes, he said, most if not all Jews follow it. A loved one is buried, then not more than a year later, a gravestone is erected. The wait considers a journey the deceased needs to make that can last as long as a year. But, Rich said, you don’t want to make them think that you think it would take them a whole year, so usually the gravestone goes up somewhere between 10 and 11 months after burial. Much less fraught then.
This morning I had to retrieve parts of my hearing aid, (my $3,200 aid) from Rigel’s depredations. Aaarrggh. Hippety hop to the hearing aid shop in Littleton. Still under warranty, so a shot at repair first; and, if repair’s not possible, then a loss and damage claim for a new hearing aid with a $250 deductible. About a week or so.
My sweetie took me out to lunch at Okinawa Sushi to soothe me. Rigel also ate the mustache trimmer I had received and unboxed only an hour before. So, double aarrggh. We may have to consider where we deposit things. It’s possible Rigel is a neat freak advocating for a clutter free home.
Today is now officially a rest day. No working out. No writing. Just naps and replacing ruined items. Tomorrow there’s a service at Beth Evergreen focused on sexual harassment. Kate and I will be there.
